Welcome to Survival of the Fittest, a RPing board loosely based off of Koshun Takami's Battle Royale, with its own unique plot and spin on the 'deadly game'. We've been around quite a while, and are now in our thirteenth year, so don't worry about us going anywhere any time soon!

If you're a newcomer and interested in joining, then please make sure you check out the rules. You may also want to read the FAQ, introduce yourself and stop by the chat to meet some of our members. If you're still not quite sure where to start, then we have a great New Member's Guide with a lot of useful information about getting going. Don't hesitate to PM a member of staff (they have purple usernames) if you have any questions about SOTF and how to get started!

It wasn't unusual for Janet to be picking up her brother from the hospital, but it was unusual for her to be this late. Normally, she would've arrived promptly so that Joe wouldn't have to wonder where her or her mother was after finishing his check up, but thanks to an inconveniently placed arcade machine in her line of sight she had been distracted and wound up ten minutes later than she approved of.

“Damn it, Janet! What kind of big sister are you?”

Hospitals were not an unfamiliar sight to Janet, considering all the regular visits that went on in her family. The cold, clean air of steel was a familiar odour to her nose, and she barely batted an eye at the variety of patients and medical professionals.

“Good afternoon; I'm looking for Doctor Viber?”

The receptionist wasn't familiar to the cheerleader, but then she hardly made an effort of noting every face she talked to when she visited Regions Hospital.

Third floor miss; Room 2A.

That location didn't strike Janet as familiar, but then that's why she made a habit of checking at reception every visit, especially after a few botched attempts at memorising the location and winding up half an hour late.

Nodding politely at the man, Janet walked towards her destination. As she looked about the corridors, she felt an air of nostalgia for when her little brother was born.

”Look Janet, it's your little brother Joe.”

At first Janet was rather jealous of her little brother, thanks to all the attention he got from everyone, but as she grew older and understood the nature of his attention, Janet began to love and care for her brother as she felt an older sister should. Though she had to make a few sacrifices for herself, Janet was satisfied with keeping Joe happy, which in a way gained her own share of attention through her parents approval.

However, the nostalgia soon wore off when Janet saw a sign on the door:

'Recovery'

Recovery? Wasn't Joe supposed to be here for a simple check-up?

Wait, what if it wasn't just a check-up? What if something had happened whilst she was at school that day?

“Oh God, Joe!”

Barging into the room, Janet looked around for her little brother. Unbeknownst to her, the receptionist was mistaken about the room: Joe was actually sat in Room 3, Floor 2A, wondering where his big sister was. Janet had no way of knowing that, though.

Instead, she was relieved to find that she couldn't spot her brother in the room, and just saw a single patient, alone. Whilst she was happy that her brother wasn't present, she realised how intrusive she'd been by barging into his room.Her cheeks blushing up, Janet uttered an apology at the patient. She was about to leave, when the face registered in her mind.

Although Janet had gained a good bedside manner from years of taking care of her brother, Janet was also a slave to her curiosity. Moving over to the man, she looked at him with interest.

Was he a student at Bayview? He looked about the age, if not for all the bruises and bandaging; if he was a student, then he definitely wasn't on any of the sports teams, who she could remember quite fluently for the most part.

Still, she was sure he'd seen him somewhere before: maybe she sat next to him in one of her classes.

Once again she realised how awkward she was being, looming over him and trying to identify him without saying a word.

“I'm sorry, I didn't mean to gawk.”

Smiling uncomfortably, she felt she had to say something to break the ice.

“Excuse me for asking, but don't you go to Bayview? You look familiar.”

"Yeah... I do. But where do I know you from? I don't think it's the concussion talking, but I don't seem to remember every talking to you... Maybe it is."

That was true; where had she met him? She definitely hadn't talked to him in any extended conversation, and now that she thought about it she probably didn't sit next to him in any of her classes either.

Well, whatever the circumstances, Janet couldn't help but look at him with sympathy. After all, here was a young man sat alone in a hospital ward, covered in injuries and forced to stay in a bed for who knows how long.

“Sorry, I guess my imagination must be playing tricks on me.”

Smiling down at the stranger, Janet found herself still curious about the cause of his injuries; how would someone end up in a state like this? Sure, she had seen worse when she came to the hospital, but she wondered just as much about them as she was about him.

"I'm going to assume I don't know you... The name's Chadd.

“Janet; nice to meet you Chadd.”

He sure was friendly, considering her abrupt entry. If anything, Janet was slightly surprised that he hadn't already called the nurse!

She watched him rub his temples, wondering if he was stressed or bothered; considering the situation, she'd hardly be surprised if he was. She was about to offer to go get him something, when he spoke again:

"You go to Bayview too, I assume?"

“Yes, that's right, I'm a junior.”

It was an odd conversation to be having with someone she had met not seconds ago in a hospital ward, but Janet knew from experience that a little company can go a long way in recovery; couldn't hurt for her to stick around for a little.

“So, how's hospital life Chadd?”

She was eager to make up for her discouraging approach, and she wasn't about to leave some guy alone in a hospital room without any sign of imminent entertainment.

Yep, that sounded about right; whenever she visited Joe in the hospital, he always complained at her about how dull it was. Usually she’d help him out of it by playing cards with him for as long as she had the time.

Then she noticed Chadd: he noticed him wincing as he held his rib. Poor guy, he looks to be in pretty rough shape. Looking down at him with concern, she was about to ask again if he was okay before he cut her off.

“Well, I'm guessing you've at least heard of me. I'm that kid that flipped his car over on the 68 in that race.”

She raised an eyebrow in interest; she thought she’d heard something along those lines, but in truth she’d been too busy with gymnastics practice for the upcoming tourney to really be that observant of what all the other girls were gossiping about.

Still, if what he was saying was true, then he was a street racer, and he must’ve been a pretty bad one at that if he winded up in this shape. On the plus side, he didn’t seem to be dead; pretty good outcome, if he really did flip his car over.

” Actually, I am kind of curious what kind of treatment I'll get when I go back..."

I guess it was understandable to be worried. After all, if the rumours really were about him, then he would probably have a swarm of girls chasing after him, begging to sign his cast; a bit embarrassing, really.

Maybe she could do a little bit of a favour and dim the flames a little for him, so that he’d not have too huge a hassle when he got out.

"I'm not sure if I'll even be able to go back this year. I'm stuck here for six weeks. And I've never been the best at book work."

Well, she wouldn’t have to worry about those flames then: after that long, no-one would even bat him an eyelid unless he went right up to them and waved his casts around. Sad, but true.

As someone who’d never been all that smart at learning things, Janet could appreciate a concern about not being able to keep up with the class work.

Chuckling lightly, Janet joked at him:

“I’d offer to tutor you, but I’m kind of a moron myself; I might end up flunking this year too, unless I suddenly jump ten IQ points.”

Finishing her chuckle with a small smile, she looked down at him again. It must suck to be so young and end up confined to a hospital for six weeks. Imagine how boring it’d get real quick!

Janet smiled as Chadd smiled: it felt good to know that his mood seemed to be perking up, regardless of how well she did (or rather, didn't) know him. Giving that happiness to someone in a troublesome situation was something Janet always enjoyed doing.

"Hey, I'm sure you'll do fine. Junior year wasn't terrible... Hey, when I get out of here I can always help tutor you instead! I might not be the brightest bulb either, but I've done it all before."

Janet chuckled lightly at that; maybe he was being serious, maybe not. It didn't really matter, since he would most likely appreciate the company no matter what the two of them were doing, and Janet would enjoy keeping him company; he was a pretty fun guy.

"Assuming I don't go back, I'll have a ton of free time anyways."

It was a sad sight: a man in the prime of his life crippled to a hospital for weeks on end, no way to get out and have fun with his mates, or drive around as he seemed to like doing, or enjoy his youth. Janet knew as she sat there that she wasn't going through any of those problems, and was in fact an awesome person in almost every regard. Even having being exposed to people in such situations for years on end in the form of her little brother, Janet couldn't even begin to compare herself to someone in a bad situation like this one. It made her feel a little guilty.

"My mother told me she'd run out and get me a netbook... I've never been big into computers, but the hospital has free internet. And it's something to do. Maybe I can even start looking for a new car."

Six weeks of browsing the internet: fun. There was no way she could just leave him to this fate; she had to do something to cheer him up! Luckily, she was experienced with such situations far beyond the average young adult, and knew plenty of limited resource means of having fun. Unfortunately, most of these were tailored at young teenagers. How much would carry over to a young adult like Chadd?

"I'm really glad that you happened in. You're like the first person I've seen since the crash besides my parents... and it is nice to have someone to talk to.“

It was true: the important thing is that she was there, keeping him company in this otherwise boring and dreary hospital. Not everyone had that benefit.

“What are you doing here in the hospital anyways? You look perfectly healthy.”

Uh-oh.

“Shit! Joe!”

Shit! How could she forget her own little brother?! What sort of big sister was she?!

“My brother! Shit I forgot!”

Shit! She had to get out of there and get her brother! She was already late before she started!

“Chadd! My brother! I need to -”

Leave him alone. Great.

She couldn't just leave him alone to wither away in the hospital, but she could hardly forget her brother either. What could she do?

“Crap, I'm sorry Chadd. I really need to pick up my brother, but I, I mean, I don't want to just leave you to die of boredom. Fuck!”

Damn it, she was being so selfish. Or rather, not selfish, but inconsiderate. Ugh, what to do...

"Janet, I'm not sure why you're so worried about leaving me... it's not like you can't come back if you enjoy my company THAT much." Chadd reassured her, looking at her legitimately/

That was a good question: why was she so worried? She had just chanced upon him, after all.

Duh: it was because you kept him company for a while. You picked him up with a little bit of fun, and now you're just going to abandon him all over to boredom again. Jerk.

She berated herself internally for her thoughtless actions, looking at Chadd with guilt as she tried to work out what she had to do. Fortunately for her, Chadd answered her problems for her:

"Seriously. You came here for your brother, you happened upon me on accident. Go get your poor brother.”

He was right: Joe definitely had to take priority. Whilst she hated to leave this guy all alone to the confines of the hospital, he at least had a nurse on call. Joe, on the other hand, was probably lonely and scared! He needed her there ASAP!

“Sorry, I guess I really do have to get him Chadd.” she apologised. It definitely wasn't the state she wanted to leave him in, but its not like she had a choice anyway.

She nodded a meek goodbye to Chadd, about to turn and head for the door, when she saw him reaching for his stand. Instinctively moving to save him the strain, she caught herself as he picked up his phone and flicked it open, looking at her inquisitively. "Hey, what's your number, before you go? Maybe we can hang out after I get out of here."

...eh? Asking for her number?

Hey, that was an idea! Then she wouldn't have to feel totally guilty about abandoning him!

Reaching for her own phone to look up her own number, which she could never remember, Janet perked her ears to Chadd's voice again: "Maybe we could catch a movie?"

A movie? Already?

“Oh Chadd, don't you know you're not supposed to ask until the third date?” she chuckled, lighting up the screen as her cheeks started to brighten simultaneously. A movie didn't actually sound too bad.

Janet smiled as Chadd let out a good hearty laugh: even though she had to go, she felt less guilty about it after seeing him so happy. On top of that, now that she'd be leaving him her number, she had even more reason to be happy since she'd be leaving with the number of a really cool guy.

He really was cool. Even lying in a hospital bed, Janet looked down at him warmly, feeling glad to have walked into the wrong room that day. Even if it had been a chance meeting, she was feeling a connection with him, and that wasn't something to be ignored under any circumstances.

"Oh, well my apologies." He said, clearly enjoying himself, "I didn't realize that we Bayview kids followed anything close to etiquette." Janet found herself being the one who was laughing this time, his idle comment tickling her funny bone. It didn't really mean anything to her, but it was still funny in the way that meaningless jokes were. She was so busy laughing, she didn't really notice a look of concentration spread across Chadd's face, as she flipped through her phone's menu to her personal information.

Glancing down at her mobile's number, Janet smiled up at him as she recited out the string of numbers. Janet felt that it was a sign of trust, giving out the way to ring up someone with no purpose in mind, and she was already handing it out after a few minutes of having met the guy. For whatever reason, she trusted Chadd.

No, not for whatever reason, she knew exactly why. He was funny, and he was friendly. Janet liked him, and he made her laugh. She didn't have any problems trusting him.

Returning to the task at hand before she could go find her brother and relinquish him of his isolation, Janet returned to her contacts menu and added a new one: Chadd (Hospital Guy).

Janet smiled down warmly as Chadd offered his thanks, feeling touched by his appreciation; it was nothing really, after all, since she had just stopped in by mistake, and wanted to cheer up a guy down on his luck. There really wasn't a reason to thank her.

But he did, and it made her smile. Smile, and blush.

She still wasn't totally sure why she was blushing, but she didn't really feel that nervous about it either. After all, Chadd was a really nice guy. She liked him. She liked him a lot. Maybe it was his friendly demeanour, maybe it was his interest in fast cars, maybe it was just the fact that he was so hurt, but she definitely liked him.

“It's no problem Chadd; I had fun.” She replied, chuckling slightly. Sure it wasn't the conventional way to have fun: run into a guy in a hospital whilst looking for your little brother, but screw it she had had a lot of fun that afternoon. Fun with Chadd Crossen, the cute guy she had met by chance.

Chucking with embarrassment as Chadd smiled a goofy smile up at her, Janet returned it with an equally graceless, but friendly, smile of affection. “I'd like that Chadd, I really would.” she answered, her heart beating excitedly within the cavity of her chest. It had been a really great time, and she was sorry that it was ending.

As she turned to walk out the door, Janet glided around to face Chadd one more time, a warm smile still affixed to her face. “Maybe I'll come visit you again tomorrow, after school.” she promised, fully intending to follow it through as she left Chadd alone in the hospital room.

And she did come and visit Chadd the next afternoon, and the one after that. Almost daily until he had recovered, Janet kept visiting Chadd to keep him happy. Eventually, the two became more than friends, and eventually Janet would realise her undying love for him. It was one of Janet's fondest memories, and every time she kissed Chadd she was thankful that she had been misdirected that fateful afternoon.